8. Polarization-maintaining and dispersion-compensating fibers
8.1 Polarization-maintaining fibers
As already mentioned, a rotationally symmetrical waveguide does not retain the polarization of the electromagnetic waves propagating through it, since there is no preferred direction (in electromagnetics, this is the notion of mode degeneracy). In long-distance transmission, this property is not a problem, as the receiver will recover the polarization from the received signal when it carries information: this is the case in systems using modulation schemes based on two orthogonal carriers.
In other applications, however, such as fiber amplifiers or lasers, it is necessary to transport a signal without changing its polarization: this is the purpose of polarization-maintaining fibers (PMF). A polarization-maintaining fiber...
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Polarization-maintaining and dispersion-compensating fibers
Microstructured fibers
Bibliography
Conferences
Two major conferences are held each year, showcasing the latest advances in optical telecommunications research:
ECOC (European Conference on Optical Communications), which takes place in a European city in September. The website address is http://www.ecocxxxx.org where xxxx designates the...
Standards and norms
Recommendations concerning the various types of optical fiber for telecommunications, available on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) website at http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-G.652/fr
Directory
Manufacturers – Suppliers – Distributors (non-exhaustive list)
A few major manufacturers share the worldwide market for optical fibers and cables for long-distance telecommunications networks. These "generalist" groups manufacture just about every type of fiber used in telecommunications, and are capable of producing thousands of kilometers of fiber.
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